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Love it or loathe it, AI is birthing a golden age of science

30 October 2026 at 05:59

It’s almost hard to remember, but just a few years ago, a lot of very smart people thought that science was in terminal decline. Respected researchers were writing papers with titles like “Are Ideas Getting Harder to Find?”, “Papers and patents are becoming less disruptive over time”, and “Slowed canonical progress in large fields of […]

The post Love it or loathe it, AI is birthing a golden age of science appeared first on Asia Times.

Electrocutions, disease and no pay: how workers risk exploitation in Europe’s datacentres

30 October 2026 at 05:00

As thousands of datacentres are constructed across Europe, the Guardian and Investigate Europe have uncovered disturbing evidence that some workers building them are exposed to dangerous conditions and living in fear of speaking out

Sandu* checked his watch. He was winding down the last 15 minutes of his shift at a vast Google datacentre site in Saint-Ghislain, Belgium, in March, when the call came in. The 34-year-old electrical tester had already worked almost 10 hours, but says such last-minute jobs were normal: “I had no choice. People have been fired after saying no.”

The task was one Sandu had done many times before and involved a series of tests measuring the safety and integrity of the electrical wiring. A protective suit was locked away in an equipment room. The round trip would have added another 15 minutes to the job, he says, and people were waiting, so he decided not to retrieve the suit.

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© Illustration: Alamy/Mei-Ling McNamara

© Illustration: Alamy/Mei-Ling McNamara

© Illustration: Alamy/Mei-Ling McNamara

Electrocutions, disease and no pay: how workers risk exploitation in Europe’s datacentres

30 October 2026 at 05:00

As thousands of datacentres are constructed across Europe, the Guardian and Investigate Europe have uncovered disturbing evidence that some workers building them are exposed to dangerous conditions and living in fear of speaking out

Sandu* checked his watch. He was winding down the last 15 minutes of his shift at a vast Google datacentre site in Saint-Ghislain, Belgium, in March, when the call came in. The 34-year-old electrical tester had already worked almost 10 hours, but says such last-minute jobs were normal: “I had no choice. People have been fired after saying no.”

The task was one Sandu had done many times before and involved a series of tests measuring the safety and integrity of the electrical wiring. A protective suit was locked away in an equipment room. The round trip would have added another 15 minutes to the job, he says, and people were waiting, so he decided not to retrieve the suit.

Continue reading...

© Illustration: Alamy/Mei-Ling McNamara

© Illustration: Alamy/Mei-Ling McNamara

© Illustration: Alamy/Mei-Ling McNamara

Binance hit by $6.3b hack in potentially biggest crypto heist in history

30 October 2026 at 04:10

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has been hit by a major cyberattack in which hackers reportedly transferred cryptocurrency worth $5.7 billion, raising concerns about what could become the biggest heist in crypto history.

According to international media reports, the incident prompted Binance to freeze approximately $3 billion in assets linked to the suspected breach as its security teams launched an investigation.

The estimated value of assets affected by the cyberattack has reached around $6.3 billion, although the full extent of the incident remains under investigation.

Despite the scale of the reported breach, Binance has assured customers that their funds remain safe. The exchange has also acknowledged technical difficulties affecting cryptocurrency withdrawals following the incident.

In response to the security concerns, Binance temporarily suspended its Alpha trading service while its teams worked to address the situation.

Meanwhile, cryptocurrency issuers Tether and Circle reportedly froze assets worth approximately $2.38 billion linked to the suspected hack, as efforts to contain the incident continued.

The identities of those responsible for the attack remain unknown, and no further details about the perpetrators have been disclosed.

The incident has also triggered concerns across cryptocurrency markets, with Bitcoin and several other digital currencies reportedly experiencing sharp price declines following news of the breach.

The potential $6.3 billion impact has placed the incident among the largest reported security breaches in cryptocurrency history, while investigations continue to establish the full circumstances and financial consequences.

The post Binance hit by $6.3b hack in potentially biggest crypto heist in history appeared first on Daily Pakistan English News.

Reddit puts logged in experience first as Google AI hits traffic

“Google is crawling us as hard as ever, so the demand hasn’t changed from their point of view either. ​The reality is, the AI mode does ‌not drive traffic, not for us and not to anybody,” Huffman said

Binance hit by $6.3 billion security breach in potential record crypto heist

30 October 2026 at 03:48
Binance said on Thursday that a security breach had affected an estimated $6.3 billion in assets, potentially making it the biggest cryptocurrency heist on record. The world's largest crypto exchange said it had recovered or frozen about $3 billion, while the incident sent Bitcoin and other digital currencies lower.

Potential Binance ‘hack’ forces crypto firms to freeze $3 billion

30 October 2026 at 02:41
A suspected hack at Binance prompted cryptocurrency firms to freeze about $3 billion in assets, the company said on Thursday. The exchange, which described the situation as a “security issue,” has temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals while it “conducts security checks, freezes funds, and works with law enforcement.” It vowed to cover all losses. “It…

Potential Binance ‘hack’ forces crypto firms to freeze $3 billion

30 October 2026 at 02:41
A suspected hack at Binance prompted cryptocurrency firms to freeze about $3 billion in assets, the company said on Thursday. The exchange, which described the situation as a “security issue,” has temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals while it “conducts security checks, freezes funds, and works with law enforcement.” It vowed to cover all losses. “It…

Crypto exchange Binance freezes billions in funds amid potential $6.3bn security breach

Breach may have started with a hacked laptop belonging to engineer, in incident analysts say could be of the most significant intrusions on record

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has said it’s investigating reports of a potential $6.3bn security breach that analysts said could amount to the most significant incident relating to digital assets on record.

It wasn’t immediately clear the extent of the damage hackers might have been able to cause, and Binance did not explicitly confirmed that funds had been stolen. The company said its teams are “working around the clock” to resolve the issue.

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© Photograph: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Photograph: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Photograph: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Manosphere and online misogyny should be treated as public health issues, say UK experts

Report calls for an effort to tackle harms in similar way to obesity and smoking, and stresses need to ‘offer boys something better’

The manosphere and online misogyny should be treated by the government as a public health issue, in the same way as obesity or smoking, experts have said.

Writing in the Lancet, the authors of a new report argue that a coordinated response is needed, involving governments, schools, health services and community organisations, similar to the public-health response to tobacco use and ultra-processed food.

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© Photograph: miniseries/Getty Images

© Photograph: miniseries/Getty Images

© Photograph: miniseries/Getty Images

Polymarket temporarily suspends trading on international platform due to security incident

29 October 2026 at 23:20

Security incident linked to performance-monitoring tool spurred platform to halt trading for about an hour

Polymarket temporarily halted trading on its international platform on Thursday because of a security incident that compromised a third-party provider, the company said.

Trading was paused for about an hour and resumed on Thursday afternoon. The company has promised to fully reimburse any affected traders.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

More than half of Victorian lawyers use AI – but only a quarter have cut client fees as a result

Research finds 55% of lawyers are using AI in legal practices, up from 37% last year, though efficiency gains aren’t as high as expected

More than half of Victoria’s lawyers have reported using AI in their work, according to a new study, but just over a quarter say they have reduced fees as a result of efficiency gains.

They also say clients seeking advice from chatbots have added to their workload, forcing them to correct errors made by AI.

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© Photograph: Posed by models; Jacob Wackerhausen/Getty Images

© Photograph: Posed by models; Jacob Wackerhausen/Getty Images

© Photograph: Posed by models; Jacob Wackerhausen/Getty Images

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